Many proposals have been made for converting the cargo tub of a wheeled vehicle into a sleeping facility. The rigid camper shell that is affixed over the tub of a pickup truck represents the simplest from of such proposals. But that approach affords very limited sleeping space--just the cargo space in the tub.
Hence, it has been proposed that the vehicle be modified to accommodate structures that can be erected and expanded to provide larger sleeping quarters. Examples of this type proposal can be found in the following United States patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,003,816, granted Jun. 4, 1935 to R. S. Allen, et al. for "Camp Trailer";
U.S. Pat. No. 2,481,230, granted Sep. 6, 1949 to W. B. MacDonald, Jr. for "Vehicle Trailer";
U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,301 granted Sep. 12, 1978 to W. D. Olmstead for "Compact Tent-Type Camping Trailer"; and
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,330 granted Oct. 31, 1995 to Q. M. Brown for "Folding Camping/Cargo Trailer".
The arrangements disclosed in each of these patents require modification of the vehicle tub to accommodate camping structures. And in the case of the MacDonald, Jr., Olmstead and Brown patents the camping structure is permanently affixed to the vehicle tub significantly interfering with its use for hauling conventional cargo.
There continues to be a need for a camping kit which can be erected on the vehicle tub without modifying the tub and which is completely removable to permit use of the vehicle to haul cargo as originally intended.